Adam & Aaron welcome Roosevelt to the podcast, with an in-depth discussion of his very successful, well-traveled, yet largely-unheralded basketball career. If ever a guest warranted featuring on the show, Roosevelt ‘Velvet’ Chapman is that guy. In 1984, within the span of just three months, he starred in the NCAA Tournament, was invited to the Team USA Olympic Trials and was selected in the NBA Draft.

Roosevelt talks about his early years in Brooklyn and how his game developed on the playgrounds of New York City. He discusses some of the future NBA stars he grew up with, including Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson and Rod Strickland, to name a few. The development of Chapman’s game earned him the opportunity to attend the University of Dayton. We chat about his incredible senior season at college, where he led the Flyers to the Elite Eight in the 1984 NCAA Tournament – overcoming Wayman Tisdale and Detlef Schrempf in the process; finally succumbing to Patrick Ewing and his Georgetown Hoyas.

Roosevelt discusses his involvement in the Team USA Olympic Trials in 1984, including two great stories involving Michael Jordan and John Stockton. He opens up about his selection in the 1984 NBA Draft and what led to him pursuing opportunities to play professionally – achieving great success – traveling around the world.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the show, to date. Roosevelt’s story is fascinating; discovering the history and importance of players who often fly under the radar, is a passion of mine. Aaron & I are confident you’ll enjoy this feature.

We talk about his childhood, playing basketball and how he handled the intense media spotlight in HS and college. He chats about his key role with Team USA, between his freshman and sophomore seasons at Georgia Tech. We delve into his NBA career, including the 1991 Draft, held in his native New York. Kenny talks about European legend and former teammate, Drazen Petrovic. We discuss his battles against Michael Jordan and Kenny provides ‘The Answer’, to a fan-submitted question. In 2014, Kenny is releasing a book – we chat about that, too.

It’s important to distinguish, these are my favorite players – clearly, subjective. A host of past players resonate with me for many reasons; a select moment in time, a well-played, yet under-appreciated career, or merely happenstance.

In no particular order, here are my favorite guards of the Jordan-era [obviously MJ-excluded; must have played at least 4 seasons against MJ’s Bulls]:

Opinion: criminally underrated player, deserving of much higher recognition. He had a stunning six season span (1985-1990) averaging 17.0 pts, 7.6 rbs, 7.5 ast and 2.5 stl per game. Oh, and he’s only 6’3″.

Opinion: an outstanding player, mere percentage points from averaging 20 pts / 10 ast for nine consecutive seasons (1989-1997). I loved his exuberant celebrations on court, plus his fearless penetration in the lane. This resulted in assists to open team mates, or an attack on the rim.

Here, KJ gives The Dream, his own night-Mayor (see what I did there?):

Opinion: an acrobatic and entertaining player, confident in his ability. He has career averages of almost 15 pts / 3 rbs / 3 ast / 1 stl, in under 30 minutes per game. Rex could light up a scoreboard, had a sweet shooting stroke and was a maestro of dunk. I even had his photo on my high school diary (too much information?)

Opinion: whilst never beating Jordan in the Playoffs, Starks is a first-ballot nominee, for the role of MJ’s nemesis. I admired his tenacity, in-your-face style of play and all out hustle. Plus, John’s road to the NBA is a fascinating tale in itself.

Opinion: part of the famed ‘Run TMC’ [part 1 / part 2] at Golden State. He was All-Star MVP in 1995 and Sacramento’s franchise player for seven seasons (1992-1998), averaging 23.3 pts, 3.7 rbs, 4.1 ast and 1.3 stl per game. A consummate professional, lauded as MJ’s toughest defender, by none other than Jordan himself.

Obvious omissions: clearly, the following players are all-time greats at their position. They didn’t make the cut as they’re not my favorites of the era – due to team/s played for or rivalries against MJ’s Bulls – imagined or otherwise…